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Her brother Ken Hodgkinson said: “Jean’s death came on suddenly, It was very hard to cope with it all. I still can’t get my head around it. The comforting thing is she was happy with what she had done.

“She said I’ve achieved what I wanted to do. And she said it’s not bad for a poor girl from Liverpool is it?’.”

Despite playing uncultured cleaner Hilda, Ken also said she first honed her acting skills with Shakespeare growing up. He said: “When she was a girl at school she got very interested in drama, especially words. She and a friend of hers, they read the whole of Shakespeare’s plays when they were about 15, taking alternate speeches. She wasn’t aiming to be famous, that was the last thing, she just wanted to work at it and to act and have the opportunity to do it.”

Bernard Youens and Jean Alexander who play Stan Ogden and wife Hilda in Granada TV's Coronation Street paid a nostalgic visit to the real street (Archie Street) in Salford, which is being demolished. 5th August 1971.

Ken spoke out in ITV tribute Hilda Ogden’s Last Ta-Ra, on screen on Tuesday, which also features cast and crew speaking about Jean and her soap character whilst sat in Hilda’s old living room faithfully recreated for the programme, including the three birds on the wall.

Referring to Hilda and on-screen husband Stan, Corrie actor Bill Roache said: “I remember them coming in and they made an impact from day one. Characters were quite few in those days. Now we have 70 or so, in those days 12 or 15, people coming in was a big deal. She typified the Street, downtrodden but not giving up, always fighting always wanting to do the best but always failing so your heart was always with her. She was a superb actress.”

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Michael Le Vell, whose character Kevin Webster lived with Hilda, was close to tears as he watched old scenes they featured in together.

He said: “I had a few years working with the best. And she was the best.”

Jean’s death in October led to a national outpouring of grief amongst millions of soap fans.

Holly Howe, Jean’s Grand Niece said: “It was thousands and thousands of tributes from fans and other actors. I think she would have been really surprised to know how loved she was by the nation.”

And Val Thewlis, Jean’s niece added: “It was lovely to think that so many people thought so much of her and she will be so sadly missed not just by us for who she was but by everybody for what she created.”

* Hilda Ogden’s Last Ta-ra – A tribute to Jean Alexander is on ITV on Tuesday at 8pm.